suteki_ran asked: What kind of manga do you like?, and what kind do you like to draw?Do you have a webcomic? What kind of drawing supplies do you use? What do you like most about Japan? Did you get lost a lot when you first started living in Tokyo? ...Do you like yaoi?Well, I like a little bit of everything, really! Mainly I read a lot of sappy shoujo, some shonen (I often read Shonen Jump series!), and yuri. I read more shoujo-ai (girls luv) or yuri than anything else, I suppose. ^^; Really, any genre is fair game from me, as long as the story is good! As far as drawing, I love to draw girl-centric shoujo-type stuff. But I'm trying to break out of my box and draw more guys-- so there is a major yaoi project in the works!

I don't have a webcomic right now, but I am working on one that will debut very soon! It's going to be really cute, and kind of in the same style of artwork that's on this post. I really hope that it will be fun and popular!! Please stay tuned!! ^o^;;// Drawing supplies-- well I use a little bit of everything. My most essential supplies are pencils+paper, of course! I also use a lot of liner pens of varying lengths. Sometimes I use copic markers, cg, paint, colored pencils, watercolors, and the list goes on and on. I don't like to limit myself! ^.^

My favorite thing about Japan is the challenge of living day-to-day in a society that I still don't fundamentally understand. The language, the lifestyle, and finding out how to do old things in a new context is really challenging! And yes, I got lost all the time when I first came to Japan. I was often late for things because I had no idea where I was going! LOL sadly while I have gained my sea legs, so to speak, I still get lost a lot. ^_^;

=D In case you didn't get from my earlier answer, I do like yaoi. ^^ I used to be a big fan of it, so to speak, and every once in a while it rears it's head, but I've tempered my interest, I guess you could say? I'm not sure how to put it, but yaoi seems normal to me now. In any case, yes I do like it. ^^ You could definitely entice me into a discussion about it anytime!

chiaki777 asked:You must blog about your general attitudes for eraser pens. Are they cool? or are they a sell out. 500-1000 words on it. Go!LOL what? I don't know what to say, but I will give it my best!! Honestly, it's been what feels like a million years since I've used an eraser pen!! I think in general, they're really useful. I know that I make enough mistakes myself when I'm writing, and it's nice to have the option to erase! 57 words is good enough, right? ^^;;

thesundaywriter asked:Something that left an impression on you and changed the way you saw something. can be a book, movie, person, event etc)This is easier than I thought it would be to answer.. Last week I saw an episode of Oprah that featured Drew Barrymore and what she is doing to make a difference in the world. I've been thinking about volunteering for a while, but she spurred me on to actually find something and get started. Drew Barrymore is my favorite actress, and I thought, while I don't have a million dollars to give to a charity, I can do my part too!! And Oprah's Big Give is really inspiring. Together, those shows have made me more determined to find a way to help. I'm still searching for a way to help out in Tokyo, I've been asking a lot of friends, so if anyone who reads this knows of something, please let me know!

rosethorne asked:Aside from food, what do you miss the most about the US?Hands-down, I miss the cleanliness.. This might sound kind of mean, but while Japan is clean in general (there is a lot less trash, etc), their public bathrooms are generally downright disgusting, and they allow smoking ALL OVER. I really miss the feeling that I have the right to stick up for my own health that I have in the US. ;___;

I also miss a lot of the things about daily life in America. I miss seeing people that are different colors (skin/hair/eyes), different shapes, and differently-attituded (does that make sense?). Japan is very homogenous, and while some people try to express their individuality, it isn't so varied here after all. I also miss a lot of the things that I took for granted about the US: driving, big parks and open spaces, trash cans on the street, ENGLISH.. The list can really go on and on. I know that whenever I go back to the US though, I will miss Japan crazily.

tolarin asked:I was looking at your interests as I don't know you too well yet... and ohmigosh... you must be the first person besides myself to know what the heck cryptozoology is! And ghost hunting! Gosh! So much fun! I've always been interested in paranormal and such... admitadly, part of it is inspired by that science fiction/fantasy writer in me... How'd you get into these sort of things? Got any cool stories?

*peace sign* Hehee! You have hit upon two of my biggest interests!! Asking when I got interested in cryptozoology is kind of like asking when I first became able to read. :D Ever since I was little, I've always believed that things like dragons, unicorns, elves, etc, were actually real. Bigfoot is certainly real! It wasn't until a few years ago though, that I learned what the term was for those kinds of things, and the study of them! I really would like to go back and study zoology/biology, just to have more credibility when I start to hunt for them in the future!! =D It will be great, to prove to the world that they exist!! (hopefully starting with my kappa journey this summer!) Ghost hunting-- I do have a little story: When I was little (around 5 years old??) we used to live in a house kind of out in the countryside/very rural area. One morning I was walking into the laundry room, and there was this GIANT (well, I was 5 so it seemed giant but it probably wasn't all that big) white shape standing in front of the drier!! It was more like a mist that had a vaguely human shape than an actual human-shape, but the worst thing was, I could feel this intense hatred emanating off of it! I was sure that if I stayed there any longer, I would die!! It was so frightening that as long as we lived in that house, I refused to go through the back door, because it would mean having to go past the laundry room. I was sure that if I did, it would attack me, whatever it was! Since then, I've believed in ghosts without a doubt! Sometimes, I wish that I could have a hypnotic regression so that I could remember that time more clearly. =D I've never had a clear experience with ghosts past then, but I really want to prove to the skeptics that they do exist, and as such, I want to go ghost hunting with a passion!! Shows like "Ghost Hunters" really push that desire in me forward. If I wasn't in Japan I definitely would have started/joined a society already, but we're working on starting one here anyways! There are definitely a lot of old stories and haunted locations in Japan to go through. =D

nicoaliyah asked:I was wondering... What really made you want to move to Japan in the first place? And what do you love most about Japan that you plan to stay there for a long time?

I'm not sure what really made me want to move over here. I think it might have just been the first glimpse of the explorer in me (and now I want to live in many more places!). I definitely became interested in Japan because of the anime, and I think I just wanted to experience that "life" for myself. I really thought that Japan would be full of anime stuff, everywhere I looked!! LOL, it's really funny to think back on it now. The image that I had in my head of Japan was really different than the real one. Hmmm, I think actually what made me originally decide to stay was the sense of freedom and challenge that I felt. But now, it's because I feel that the next step in my career (manga) is here, and I've made a lot of friends and a kind of life here. ^^ In any case, I don't think that I'll live in Japan forever, but I would really like to buy/build a house here sometime, so that I can come back whenever I feel like it. I will rent it out when I'm not around! =D

Oh my!! My favorite places and favorite hangouts are different. =D My favorite place is the Kappa shrine, because of my fascination with them.. but my favorite place to gather a lot of friends and hang out are:Mount Takao:Yoyogi Park:Shinjuku Gyoen:Shinjuku/Ikebukuro/Akihabara/Shibuya: (This is Shinjuku but they all look pretty much the same)Tokyo Dome:

One me or someone else?? I like comfy cotton panties on me, lacy pretty panties on other ladies. =D Just because they're pretty and I'm too much into comfort to wear them!

babymoss asked:Do you have any/Who are your current celebrity crushes?Do you have any real life crushes at the moment?Can you describe what your ideal partner would look like/ do you have a 'type'?

Hmm, the first one is a hard one.. Well, I like Drew Barrymore. A LOT. I like redheads. But really, I while I find a lot of celebrities hot (both male and female), I can't say that I've ever really crushed on one. I would have to know them a lot better, I think! =D Sorry for being so vague, but I know enough public people to realize that the on-air persona is usually different from their real one! ^^;

There is a little bit of one crush, a quite old one actually! But it's on hold pending Anime Expo. Who knows what will happen between now and then! And I suck at long-distance romances..

My ideal partner... Well, looks-wise I am not really sure. I do have a 'type' which strangely enough includes glasses (ahh, I am a megane girl!! This was a recent realization!!), but I've often found that the people that I end up dating don't really fall into that looks-type. So maybe looks don't matter as much as personality. With a personality, I've found that I prefer to date someone who is creative, sometimes spazzy, but ultimately down-to-earth and likes to have fun. ^^ As far as whom I want to end up with-- it has to be someone whom is both driven to succeed, but willing to follow me around! XD;; It's a tall glass to fill!

boobum_x asked:Hm, well! I'd like to know at what age you started drawing, and what influenced you to be an artist. I hope you haven't written about it before. ^^;

I'm not sure if I've written about it or not.. but it's a pretty easy tale to tell! ^^ What I wrote on my college application was something like this, "I've been drawing ever since I've been able to hold a pencil in my hand," and it really is the true story. When I was a little kid, I would draw all sorts of things (mostly cats!). I just kept on drawing all through school, and when I got into high school, my friend Rachel got me into anime. From there, I've dabbled in a lot of different styles, and I guess you could say that's that! =d I always wanted to be either an astronaut, archaeologist, or animator my entire life, and because in the end I thought that I wouldn't be able to live a life without art, that's what I chose to pursue. =^-^= In a way, my childhood cartoons were what influenced me the most-- you know, those old 90s cartoons especially. ^^

kilik_hiwatari asked:I don't know if you've written about this before but, have you worked on any manga? If you did, who was it with and what was your job? And how hard was it for you to learn most kanji?

I've never worked on a pro manga before, sorry! ^o^; I've visited manga studios/offices before, but somehow I never felt like I wanted to be an assistant. I do hope to do my own manga, though!! I really think that this year will be the year that you'll see some good things come from me! ^__^

Kanji.. LOL well I can still only read a small amount. For me it's quite hard because I prefer to speak/socialize in japanese than study! Most of the kanji that I've learned are through reading manga and (trying to read) novels. It's a long process but I'm working hard at it whenever I can!

Anonymous asked:Just how dirty are public bathrooms in Japan? I think you said they're filthy but just how dirty?What's the best month in japan, weather-wise and for travel?Have you done much traveling in osaka in the more traditional parts?Just how bad is pedestrian traffic in tokyo?Are there regular supermarkets in the middle of the main wards?

It depends on the bathroom-- some of them are very clean/modern, but a majority of them (especially in the train stations) are quite dirty, especially in non-major stations. There is a place that I used to go to often for work that would usually have poop piled behind/on at least one of the three squat toilets in the bathroom. I understand not wanting to clean that up, but they do have janitors and it's their job! But yeah.. ...

I think that the best month weather-wise is May.. It's warm and mostly sunny, and if you're lucky you might even catch a little bit of the sakuras!! But the problem is that Golden Week is the first week in May, and all of the tourist places will be WAY too crowded. July was my favorite month to travel in, because there are few travellers so many places won't be crowded (I went to Kansai at the end of July last year), but it's quite hot! I really don't recommend winter travel outside of Okinawa, because it's far too cold to be comfortable (I'm speaking as a desert-lover, so you might be different).

Yep!! Last year, I went to Osaka, Kyoto, and Nara. It was a really great trip!! I also went to Nikko a year ago, Mt. Fuji last summer, and to Hokkaido this last winter. I hope to go to Hiroshima and Okinawa at least this year, and hopefully more places if I have the money to! ^^ I really like seeing the more interesting traditional places in Japan!

The pedestrian traffic really depends on where you are and at what time of day/what day. If you go to busy areas like Shinjuku during the weekends or rush hours, it will be so crowded that you'll probably feel pretty upset unless you're really easygoing! I don't like crowds, so I try to avoid those places as much as possible!! In lesser crowded areas, of course there are a lot of people walking, but you will see more cars, and less people in general. Same with off-hours for the major areas. It's not always packed everywhere! ^^

Yep, there are supermarkets everywhere!! There are several within a few minutes walking from my house. It's quite convenient, as long as you like japanese food, since most of them don't carry a large selection of international foods!

amourwolf asked:What was the last animated movie you watched?Favorite medium for art?

The last animated movie I saw was Disney's Enchanted. I looooove that movie so much!! ^O^ Japanese animated movies, the last I saw was probably.. Paprika a year ago? ^^;; I can't remember if I've seen another one since then or not..

My favorite art medium is pencil/ink and copic markers. I prefer doing character art, and there is something to say for being able to take your art with you wherever you go! ^___^

It really depends on which kind of drawings that you're asking about! ^__^ For the drawing on this post, I scanned it in and colored it in photoshop. There's a lot of techniques that I can give to help with specific problems, so if you have any problems wondering how to do this or that, please let me know! ^o^ A lot of the other times, I use traditional media to color my works. I'd like to get back into cg a little bit though, so I've been doing more and more of it lately! =D

Wow, that feeling you described for your ghostly experience is exactly what I felt when I had mine years ago (which is also what convinced me that supernatural things are real and sparked my huge interest in everything paranormal xD) It is indeed a hatred so intense that you feel like you'll die if you stayed any longer. o__o However, I've never seen the misty white things before. I have seen mysterious "shadow people" though. o.O

Okay I don't really want to sound so annoying but I need to know cause I do plan on living there for sometime after I finish and pay off school loans. So I just need to know how exactly could you afford going to Japan and how long did you have to wait after you finished school cause I bet you had a lot of loans to payoff right? I think I should tell you that you'll love Hiroshima cause I have family there and I've been a few times. I went to Kyoto in the Summer of 2006. I am going to be taking Japanese classes to help me out with the language and then I am also taking business classes to help with getting a job in Tokyo, but I think I'll probably will be living with my grandparents for awhile until I get settled and find a job too.

check this out!!! http://www.fewjapan.com/volunteer/few_volunteering_directory.pdf
it's for 2004-2006, but that's still pretty recent, and it's got about a gazillion different kinds of charities/organizations etc that you can volunteer with. i'm pretty excited about it!

Japan is really that boring when it comes to other skin colours and stuff? DRAMAS LIE!!! XDActually I knew about that, but in dramas there is always quite a few gaijin hanging around XDI thought that You were planning to stay there forever *sob* SHOCK~! Where can be better than in Japan?Nice photo at Tokyo Dome XD

Wow the answer about bathrooms is somehow Ewwwwwwwww~!

I like Enchanted too XD

Can I ask the question here? Is it hard to get permission to live in Japan permamently?